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Posted: 11-06-2012 11:11 Post subject:

Fish fingers aren't strange. The fact this kid can only eat fish fingers (allegedly) due to allergies is weird.

Posted: 11-06-2012 11:16 Post subject:

Just fish fingers? What about fish (i.e. fish that's not a fish finger)?

Posted: 11-06-2012 12:09 Post subject:

It's strange. The mum says she's tried lots of things but I'm wondering if she's a bit like some of the families I know back home and doesn't actually know how to cook or anything about nutrition... But I wouldn't like to judge because the whole story is plainly not there.

Posted: 11-06-2012 12:17 Post subject:

When I was a kid, I was a fussy eater. I used to get fish fingers for breakfast.

Posted: 11-06-2012 12:26 Post subject:

My brother was and it was caused by a finger finger. Specifically the fish finger which still had a bone in it which got stuck down his throat and had to be extracted at hospital by a fairly unsympathetic medic. My bruv was only little, poor mite.

Posted: 14-11-2012 13:37 Post subject:

http://style.uk.msn.com/health/pepsi-special-fat-blocker-will-it-work#scptm2

Hmm - I think I'll stay round and interesting thank you.

Posted: 15-11-2012 17:21 Post subject:

Falmouth man given licence to legally harvest seaweed

The first licence to gather seaweed in England has been issued to a man living on the south coast of Cornwall.
Rory MacPhee, 56, of Falmouth was given the licence by the Crown Estate to hand-harvest and sell "sea vegetables".
Mr MacPhee claims people currently harvesting seaweed for sale in England are doing so illegally.
He said in these days of economic "doom and gloom" it was a "tremendously exciting new development for Cornwall".
Edible seaweed - much sought after as a delicacy - cannot be collected and sold without permission from landowners and environment agencies.

Eaten by coastal people since prehistoric times, today 145 species of red, brown or green seaweed are used worldwide as food.
In China, Japan and Korea seaweed has for centuries formed part of the daily diet and demand far outstrips supply.

Trained chef and forager Fergus Drennan said: "We have a coastline that's almost as big as the coastline of Japan, which is the greatest seaweed-eating culture in the world… we've got as many varieties but we just don't use it.
"UK waters hold about 630 species, but only around 35 have been used in cooking, so there is plenty of uptapped potential", he added.

Mr MacPhee, boat-builder and furniture-maker, gathers the seaweed along the Cornish coast, flattening out the leaves before laying them on rocks to dry.
The seaweed is dried and cured and ground into strips and a powder and poured into test tubes and sold.
Mr MacPhee said: "Seaweed is rich in nutrients and extremely tasty - a lot of the top chefs are beginning to use it in their dishes."
He is hoping that the British will take the "sea vegetable" to their hearts.

Mr MacPhee said: "In these days of economic doom and gloom, the food market remains strong with a tremendously exciting new development for Cornwall in the gathering and selling sea vegetables."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-20340197

The Welsh have been making Laverbread for centuries. According to Wiki,
"laverbread is eaten across the Bristol Channel in North Devon, especially around the Exmoor coast around Lynmouth, Combe Martin and Ilfracombe. In North Devon it is generally not cooked with oatmeal and it is simply referred to as 'Laver' (lay-ver)".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lava_bread#Laverbread

(Which is something I didn't know!)

Posted: 15-11-2012 17:37 Post subject:

This story was in the local paper in August:

Posted: 18-11-2012 11:57 Post subject:

Strange to many of us, but commonplace elsewhere:

How to ferment autumn vegetables
Fermenting may not be part of our culinary tradition, but it’s a clever, tasty and nutritious way to store autumn veg, and a habit worth acquiring, says Sarah Raven.
By Sarah Raven.
6:30AM GMT 16 Nov 2012

Sometimes it’s difficult to know what to do with certain vegetables at this time of year. Not so much the cabbages, parsnip, kale and leeks – they’ll be fine outside whatever the weather – but there are others that don’t last so well in the frost and rain. Some of these are brilliantly suited to fermenting. This is the process of preserving raw vegetables in brine, to eat through winter and spring. You can use any brassica: cauliflower, brussels sprouts, broccoli or cabbage. It also works brilliantly with apples, peppers and many of the roots: carrots, onions, beetroot, turnips, jerusalem artichokes and celeriac. Many of us have trugfuls of these which need using up.

We’re unusual among vegetable-growing cultures in that we don’t have a tradition of fermenting our autumn veg. If you visit homes in France (where fermented cabbage is called choucroute), all over Northern Europe – Germany, Holland and Scandinavia, as well as Eastern Europe – Poland, Russia, Lithuania, Hungary and Romania – many gardener/cooks will be busy setting up their fermenting pots right now to make sauerkraut and fermented root veg. Farther east, you’ll see the same tradition in warmer climates, with kimchi and brined sour pickles all through Asia – China, Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia and, most of all, Korea, where they eat kimchi with almost every meal. In fact, in Asia they grow lots of winter radish, daikon or mooli, specially to ferment them, along with burdock (or gobo). I’m now adding them to my sowing list for next year.

As well as a neat way to store veg, fermenting is nutritious too. You’re not cooking but preserving the veg in their raw state, which maintains high levels of vitamin C and breaks down many vitamins and other nutrients into more easily digestible forms.

Captain Cook was recognised by the Royal Society for having conquered scurvy among his crew by sailing with large quantities of citrus fruit and sauerkraut. On his second circumnavigation in the 1770s, 60 barrels of sauerkraut lasted for 27 months and not a single crew-member developed scurvy, which had previously killed huge numbers on long trips.

Raw food is an essential part of a balanced diet and in certain respects it is easier to digest than cooked food. Fermented food also contains lots of lactobacillus, which acts as a strong fungicide. As with sourdough bread and live yogurt, there is plenty of evidence of the health benefits of fermented foods. The Germans are so hooked on it that they drink juice of sauerkraut separately from the vegetables, as a tonic. I’m not sure I’d go that far, but I love the tangy taste and crunch of the veg.

etc...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/9681309/How-to-ferment-autumn-vegetables.html

I'll be trying this on peppers, at least. I often use them in curries, etc, but usually only half a pepper at a time. The other halves I keep in a mixture of vinegar and spices, but that imparts its own flavour.

By coincidence, this is the second article I've posted today which mentions Captain James Cook! (The first is in Forgotten History.)

Posted: 18-11-2012 19:16 Post subject:

I now have one red and one green pepper immersed in Brine in an old beetroot jar. They are slightly bouyant (I think pepper pieces sank in vinegar), so I had to add a pottery eggcup to hold them under!

Posted: 30-12-2012 11:40 Post subject:

Ugh! Look what's for dinner in 2013! From cuttlefish and chips to bacon chocolate, the Mail's food writer predicts the bizarre food trends coming our way
By Anne Shooter
PUBLISHED: 01:53, 29 December 2012 | UPDATED: 10:44, 29 December 2012

Remember a few years ago when posh burger bars were popping up everywhere?
Well, now it’s the turn of the humble hot dog to go gourmet. Steak restaurant Hawksmoor is offering three hotdogs made from rare breed beef and pork with different toppings for £10 a pop.

Bubbledogs in London has a dozen variations (try the one with sour cream, avocado, salsa and jalapenos), which it serves with house champagne. Could there be a better combination?

Fermented Korean cabbage, or Kimchi, is gracing all sorts of menus and has just become available as a side dish at the Wagamama chain of noodle restaurants.

We are going to see more of it in 2013 and, as someone who has experienced this combination of pickled vegetables, chilli and garlic (think super-spicy sauerkraut), I am not sure that is necessarily a good thing.
Definitely an acquired taste and it makes your fridge smell scary.

When M&S launched a game range in the autumn, they were surprised to see wild rabbit jumping (sorry!) off the shelves.
And why not? It’s cheap, sustainable, healthy, delicious and easy to cook (just brown the pieces of rabbit in a pan, add carrots, onions, garlic, celery, half a bottle of red and a sprig of rosemary, and cook for an hour).
So ditch any thoughts of cute bunnies, get down to your butcher and tuck in.

Cuttlefish isn’t just for the budgies, you know. CJ Jackson, CEO of the Billingsgate Seafood Training School, says: ‘If you like squid, the chances are that you’ll love cuttlefish.
It’s just a bit meatier and sweeter — and cheaper. It’s sustainable and we land plenty of it in Britain, with much of it going to Europe, but it’s becoming popular here.
‘Try pan-frying the head in strips dusted with seasoned flour, with chilli. The tentacles are tougher and need slow cooking with wine, garlic and tomatoes.
‘Beware: cuttlefish have ink sacs so if you want to avoid an ink-drenched kitchen, ask your fishmonger to prepare it for you.’ Cool

Marshmallows are the new macaroons, so get ready to see them everywhere and be delighted by their upgrade from pick ’n’ mix favourites to heavenly cubes of perfumed, highly expensive gorgeousness.

They are on the menu at fashionable London restaurant Delaunay and are included in the afternoon tea at The Connaught.
You can order them online from various places including the wonderful Fine And Candy (finecandy.co.uk).
Try their crystallised rose petal, £5.95 for ten fat cubes of marsh-mallow. There’s also lavender, pistachio, vanilla and cinnamon.

Bars of bacon
It may sound grim, but this is just the trend for salted caramel — last year’s sweet and savoury obsession — taken one step further.
Americans have been slopping maple syrup over bacon and pancakes for decades, but recently they’ve moved onto bacon muffins, bacon popcorn and now upmarket chocolate with bacon bits in it.
In Britain, Nigella has recently published a recipe for bacon brownies, and you can buy bars of Zotter chocolate studded with hazelnuts and pork crackling for £3.25 from John Lewis, Wholefoods or chocolatiers.co.uk.

etc, etc...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2254447/2013-trends-Anne-Shooter-predicts-bizarre-food-coming-way.html

Posted: 14-01-2013 10:00 Post subject:

Now here's a novelty!

Tea made from coffee leaves found to beneficial for health
A tea brewed from the leaves of the coffee plant have been found to be high in compounds that are good for human health.
By Richard Gray, Science Correspondent
8:40AM GMT 13 Jan 2013

Once it was a simple question: tea or coffee? Now, after a scientific breakthrough that choice will become rather less straightforward.
Researchers have discovered that a rare type of tea made from the coffee plant is more healthy than both the other beverages.

The scientists found that “coffee leaf tea” contained high levels of compounds credited with lowering the risk of heart disease and diabetes.
The leaves were found to contain more antioxidants than normal tea – which is already renowned for its healthy properties – and high levels of a natural chemical found in mangos known to combat inflammation.

The researchers believe the leaves of Coffea plants, as they are known scientifically, have been largely overlooked due to high value placed on coffee beans, which are actually seeds inside cherries produced by the small green shrub. These contain far fewer of the healthy compounds.

The researchers at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, London, and the Joint Research Unit for Crop Diversity, Adaptation and Development in Montpellier, believe coffee leaves could provide a new, healthy drink to rival coffee and traditional green or black tea.
The drink, which contains low levels of caffeine, has earthy taste neither as bitter as tea nor as strong as coffee.

Dr Aaron Davies, a coffee expert and botanist at Kew Gardens who helped conduct the research, said coffee leaf tea was popular among some locals in places like Ethiopia and South Sudan and there had even been an attempt to market it in Britain in the 1800s.
He said: “In 1851 people were touting it as the next tea and there were all these reports at the time about its qualities. I spent some time in Sudan and met a village elder who made it every day – she would hike for a couple of hours to collect the leaves to make tea.

“What was surprising was how many antioxidants are in the coffee leaves. They are much higher than those in green tea and normal black tea.
“There were also very high levels of a substance called mangiferin in the leaves of arabica coffee plants. This chemical was first extracted from mangos but has had lots of healthy properties attached to it.”

Dr Davies found samples of coffee leaf tea in the Kew collections that date back nearly 100 years. At the time coffee producers in Sumatra and Java, in modern day Indonesia, had attempted to popularise coffee leaf tea in the UK and Australia.

...

[And an amazing statistic:]
Coffee beans are the world’s second most valuable commodity after crude oil, with almost eight million tonnes produced a year in an industry worth more than £43 billion. There are also 165 million cups of tea drunk every day in the UK.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9797675/Tea-made-from-coffee-leaves-found-to-beneficial-for-health.html

Posted: 14-01-2013 12:57 Post subject:

The small frozen prepared cuttlefish you can get in chinese supermarkets are gorgeous, totally different flavour to squid, almost creamy. Very Happy

Posted: 14-01-2013 17:02 Post subject:

Posted: 14-01-2013 17:11 Post subject:

Isn't it still moving?? Crying or Very sad